Part Six - December 28th, 2019 and beyond
After our travels of the previous couple of days we explored some of the area closer to Hamilton - beginning with coffee and cakes at a bakery in a nearby town. Our hosts often buy their goods at the bakery's regular stall in Hamilton..
During the time we were enjoying the sight of the Niagara Falls, the pre-Christmas snow had melted leaving just the odd remnant to remind us of the earlier snow.
We explored a collection of old buildings just outside Hamilton. Peeping through the windows they looked untouched for 100 years or so, but it could have been much less. Random items from the past had been left behind, giving insight into what life had been like.
This covered bridge is not like anything I had seen before, but apparently it is typical of the area. It just left me asking why a bridge required a roof?
Nearby were some retail units selling vintage items which were surprisingly similar to what you would find in similar emporiums in this country. Concrete floors were disguised beneath an assortment of rugs and carpets in an attempt to keep the cold at bay, which seeped up from below. Traders huddled over heaters, hoping that customers would appear and buy up their collection of vintage tat.
For lunch we visited a nearby BBQ, where we made our selection from the mighty meaty menu.
After lunch we drove past a nearby lake. Although the temperatures were above freezing, the lake must have been much colder, as we observed folk camped out on the ice in the hope of catching fish.
The next day we bid a fond farewell to Hamilton and headed back towards New York via the scenic Catskill mountains.
We passed a surprising number of building that appeared to be abandoned, but the population of the area was so sparse it would be difficult to see how anyone could earn a living there.
Our accommodation this evening was an Airbnb in Queens - a first floor (English style) flat with the living room in the centre. This meant that most of the natural light in this room was from a roof light as the window looked out onto a brick wall. It felt a bit like the set from an American soap where all the action is centred on the seating area.
As this was our last day we had planned to visit Central Park, but torrential rain required us to rethink our plans. A visit to the Cathedral had been recommended, so off we set.
Like Cathedrals this side of the pond there were lots of fascinating things to look at. I was particularly struck by the fact that the small figure in the centre of the Rose Window is the height of a man.
We then headed over to Macey's so that the KHT could have the opportunity to try out the interactive windows, the pre-Christmas crowds had made it impossible to get near the store on our previous visit. (This is not the same place we visited on Day 2, which I thought was Macey's but was actually another large New York store, the name of which escapes me...)
Too soon it was time to take the subway back to where had left the car and head for the airport for our flight eastward.
Once on the plane we seemed to taxi and wait on the runway for about 20 minutes before eventually taking off some distance from the terminal. Through the window the KHT watched the last vestiges of light on the horizon, eventually to be replaced by the sunrise. I did think she would sleep, but she kept her eyes partly open so she could follow the progress of our flight on the screen in front of her.
It was light by the time we flew over Ireland, passing unseen above the low cloud.
In the airport the signage for the next flight was far from clear, but with after checking with staff we managed to find our way to the right gate at the correct time for our flight back to Birmingham, glimpsing the Menai straights as we flew over Anglesea.
Baggage collected, we headed out to our waiting taxi, taking with us bags of memories from our first trip across the pond.
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